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Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

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Sorry, It's Sold

Adventures in Growing Old

Artist:Orson Lowell
Date:1908-15
Medium:Pen & Ink
Dimensions:Sight Size 26" x 24" Framed 34 1/2 " x 33"
Condition:Good
Original Use:Presumably Interior Story Art for an Early Edition of LIFE Magazine
Price: SOLD !!
Above: The fleeing process
Above: Full View of Artwork
Above: Framed View

A whimsically rendered, Belle Epoque pen and ink illustration, presumably created for an early issue of LIFE magazine, addressing the adventures of growing old. A young girl on the left attempts to gain the attention of father time (viewed literally handing out birthdays off of an old cart) while Edwardian attired women on the right flee the aging process. This appears to be an illustration for a writing by Helen Ring Robinson, the author who in 1908 adapted a version of Uncle Tom’s cabin for children. Her name is ghost written in light pencil upper left below one of the 8 draining hour glasses.

Above: Detail
Above: The artists signature
Above: Detail of father time
Above: Detail

A biography on the artist

Illustrator Orson Lowell, the son of landscapist Milton H. Lowell, was born in 1871. He studied with the well-known anatomist, J. H. Vanderpoel, at the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois. He moved from Chicago to New York in 1893. Known for the richness of his work in pen and ink, he drew, in 1898, fifty illustrations for The Choir Invisible. By 1907, he was employed at Life magazine, at that time a humor publication competing with Judge and Punch. He became known for his cartoons with a social message. Lowell was a contemporary of, and often discussed in relation to, the famous illustrator Charles Dana Gibson.

In 1899, F. Marion Crawford published Saracinesca, a two-volume work with one hundred pen and ink drawings and reproductions of paintings by Lowell featuring images of Italian fountains, ancient buildings and bridges.

Lowell illustrated magazines like Life, Judge, The American Girl through the 1940’s. Before the decline of illustrated novels in the early 1920’s, Lowell created illustrations for works little-known today, Love in Old Clothes, 1896; C.N. and A.M. Williamson’s Lady Betty Across the Water, and the works of Charles de Kock.

Orson Byron Lowell died in 1956.

In 2002, Lowell’s work was represented in Toast of the Town: Norman Rockwell and the Artists of New Rochelle, an exhibition of twenty-five artists associated with that New York town, held at the Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Adventures in Growing Old

Artist: Orson Lowell
Price:  SOLD !!

Filed Under: Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: 1910s, american, belle epoque, cartoon, Edwardian, Helen Ring Robinson, LIFE, original interior illustration, Orson Lowell
Added to Gallery: February 5, 2007

 

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    About Grapefruit Moon Gallery

    Grapefruit Moon Gallery, based in Minneapolis MN, specializes in vintage pin up and original illustration art.  We are the proud home of the Bunny Yeager archives.

    Since 2003, Grapefruit Moon Gallery has been a leading dealer of exclusive original paintings by Gil Elvgren, Alberto Vargas, Earl Moran, Rolf Armstrong and Henry Clive, as well as vintage photographs, prints, and period decorative arts in ceramic and metal.

    All artworks featured are original, accurately represented, and guaranteed to be the work of the named artist.

    Interested buyers may view pieces by appointment and we are happy to answer any questions you may have. [Contact Us]

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